A group of Perth barbers have teamed up with a local charity to give free haircuts to the homeless.

They took over the Salvation Army in Northbridge on Friday armed with scissors, combs and hairdryers.

"What we're trying to do is just to make people feel better about themselves and hopefully that might give them a little bit of a kickstart in relation to their own personal lives," organiser Craig Hollywood said.

He saw the idea succeed overseas and approached Northbridge-based Westons Barbershop to launch the Short Back and Sidewalks project in Perth.

"They all turned around and said 'we'd love to do this'," Mr Hollywood said.

The gesture was well-received by the crowd lining up for a cut.

"This is great, these guys provide a terrific service and they help people out, it's awesome," one man said.

"It's really good, I haven't had [a haircut] for a year," another added.

One man expressed his gratitude to those running the campaign and vowed to spread the word.

"I feel like a brand new person," he said.

The Salvation Army said the demand for services was increasing, and not-for-profit organisations were struggling to keep up.

"We're seeing large numbers of people who just aren't able to afford the basics anymore and that's why something like this is so important," the Salvation Army's Kris Halliday said.

"It's those little things that we take for granted that people are able to come here and have for free, that give them their humanity back, give them their dignity back."

Organisers said the day was just the first step, and they had plans to extend the project to other parts of Perth as well as regional Western Australia.